


I Took Her Hand In Mine

by DreaDuQuesne



Category: Lovecraft Country (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Family, Fix-It, Magical Pregnancy, Past Present Future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:26:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27598198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreaDuQuesne/pseuds/DreaDuQuesne
Summary: Christina is visited by the ghost of her long dead mother and is taken on a journey through the past, present and future to help her understand the true price of immortality.
Relationships: Ruby Baptiste/Christina Braithwhite
Comments: 17
Kudos: 98





	I Took Her Hand In Mine

Christina laid in bed, exhaling a deep breath as she heard the stairs creak. Ruby was many things; beautiful, intelligent, demanding, passionate, the list went on. But the one thing she was not was conspicuous. She knew exactly where Ruby was going and what she was up to. Truth be told, she knew the minute Ruby walked into the basement but that didn’t stop her from kissing her. It didn’t stop her from hiking up Ruby’s skirt and fucking her right there on the table and it sure as hell didn’t stop her from taking Ruby to the bedroom for a few more rounds.

Now, here she was in bed thinking about what she should do. It only took a second for her to conclude that there was only one thing she was willing to do.

Christina sat up and swung her feet over the edge of the bed and stood up. She walked over to the closet in search of her robe and threw it on as she made her way out the bedroom.

“What will it cost?”

Christina stopped in her tracks, her hand on the frame of the door. She didn’t immediately recognize the voice, but curiosity turned her head.

Blonde hair cascaded down the woman’s back from where she sat on the edge of the bed. She finally turned to Christina and it was only then did she recognize the woman.

“Mom,” Christina said, her voice small as she took a step forward.

Clarissa stood from the bed, her red dress flowing to her calves and her hands clasped in front of her. She tilted her head as she smiled at her daughter.

Her smile then faded.

“What will it cost?” Clarissa repeated.

“You’re nothing like I remember.”

Clarissa stepped forward, closing the distance between them. “You remember more about me than you care to admit.”

Christina wiped away the tear that betrayed her. “Why are you here?”

“I was summoned to show you the past, present and future.”

“I didn’t summon you,” Christina said, her voice low and cold. She turned for the door, but Clarissa grabbed her arm.

~~~~~~~~~~

Christina and Clarissa appeared in the doorway of a dining area.

A four-year old Christina sat at the dinner table. Her mother knelt in front of her as she inspected a bloody hand.

Clarissa sighed. “Christina, what happened to you?”

“I was running from Peter and I fell,” Christina replied.

Clarissa held Christina’s chin in her hand. “You will do many things in this lifetime but lying should never be one of them. Now, tell me the truth.”

“I was in Papa’s study and touched the magic.”

A worried look was on Clarissa’s face.

Christina watched as her mother and younger self froze. “Take me back home. Now.”

“I can’t. Not yet.” Clarissa turned to her. “Immortality will come at a heavy price and my only purpose is to ensure that you are truly willing to pay it.”

“Why did you bring me _here_?” Christina asked, clenching her jaw to relieve the pain of holding back her tears.

“You know why,” Clarissa said as she walked over to a younger Christina. She patted down her daughter’s blonde locks as she looked at herself.

“Right after this, I got into my car-“

“I don’t want to be here.”

Clarissa touched the shoulder of her past self. “And I drove you to the hospital.” She made her way back to Christina and held her hand. “At least that was my intention.”

~~~~~~~~~~

They reappeared on the side of a highway in Boston where a car was flipped upside down and another one was crashed into a nearby tree. A four-year old Christina watched from a police car as her mother was hauled into the ambulance parked in the middle of the street.

“Did you remember what happened that night?”

“You died on impact now can we go,” Christina asked.

“I meant do you remember how your hand was healed. Do you remember how it was possible for you to walk away from this crash without a scratch?”

Christina knitted her brows. She turned to the wreck and watched as her younger self was driven away in a police car. “I never thought about it.”

“It wasn’t Samuel who created the Mark of Cain.”

“You had magic?” Christina asked, her voice barely a whisper.

“My father was in the Order,” Clarissa said. “but in that moment, all I cared about was keeping you safe. What I didn’t realize was that the spell also had healing properties. How fitting is it that you’d be the one to figure that out years later?”

Christina stuffed her hands in her pocket. “He never even told me you had magic.”

“There is a lesson to be learned here, my dearest Christina. You lost something the night I died.”

““You knew my study was off limits,” is what father said before he went on his rants about how I was to blame for your death, but that wasn’t even the worst part, considering I already blamed myself. No, the worst part was that the only person in the world who genuinely cared for me was dead. You- _She_ was my family,” she extended a hand to the ghost with her mother’s face. “ _That_ is what I lost that night.”

A sad smile pulled at Clarissa’s lips. “To the present we shall go.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Tic sat on the edge of the bed, his jaw clenching and unclenching. He then took his glasses off and sat them on the nightstand.

Leti walked into the room, fixing the strap on her nightgown. She made her way over to Tic.

Christina rolled her eyes. “What lesson will I learn from watching them fuck?”

Clarissa turned to her. “It’s less about watching and more about listening.”

Tic placed his hands on Leti’s hips, nudging her stomach with his nose. “I love you.”

Leti chuckled. “You know he can’t hear you, right? He’s barely a fetus.”

“I was talking to you, Leti,” he said as he looked up at her.

Leti grabbed his face as she bent down, placing a long passionate kiss on his lips.

“I love you, too,” she said.

And they froze.

Christina turned to Clarissa. “Leti-she’s _pregnant_?”

“What will it cost?”

“I have no intention of hurting Leti.” Christina shook her head as she turned to Tic and Leti. “It’s not personal.”

“Isn’t it?”

“There isn’t a lesson to learn here because if I achieve immortality, I can save Atticus. I can bring him back.”

“You grossly underestimate their abilities.”

Christina shrugged. “Is that the lesson?”

“You understand family on a fundamental level and yet, you don’t really understand at all. You know what it’s like to lose the person you love the most; do you _really_ want them to feel that pain?”

Christina thought for a long moment. Every step to her ascension was meticulously planned but not this. Not this journey through the past, present and future but it wasn’t changing her mind. She had a goal, and nothing was going to get in her way of achieving it.

“If that’s the price I have to pay then I will pay it in full.”

“I guess my question should have been does proving your father and The Order wrong really mean that much to you?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Christina said without hesitation.

"My sweet child." Clarissa brought a soft hand to her daughter’s face. "You truly don’t understand the words you speak.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Ruby laid in bed, still in the coma Christina had put her in. Her hair had gray streaks that told the tale of passing years.

Christina moved closer to the bed, tears coating her big blue eyes. “Did I not achieve immortality?”

“You did,” Clarissa answered, “but only for a few moments. They cast a spell that took magic from all white people and then you were killed... by a _child_.”

Christina sat at the edge of the bed and placed Ruby’s hand in her own. “I was going to wake her.”

A young girl walked into the bedroom singing the most beautiful of tunes. Her hair was long, dark and curly, and her skin was tan like Leti’s but when Christina turned to her, it was undeniable how much she looked like Ruby.

“Rhea, you up yet?” Leti’s voice called out. “Don’t forget to brush your teeth before you come down to eat.”

“Okay,” Rhea replied. She paused at the sight of Christina. A bright smile crept onto her face before it faded. “It’s you.”

“You can see me?” Christina asked.

“Of course,” Rhea answered. “I’m the one who brought you here.”

In that moment, Christina felt something pulling her toward the child. Somehow, this little girl was familiar to her.

“Who is she?”

“Something tells me you already know,” Clarissa said from behind her.

Christina knelt in front of Rhea. “What year is it?”

“1966,” Rhea said. “I turned ten a few months ago.”

“Ruby’s pregnant,” Christina said, the realization suddenly hitting her like freight train.

Rhea nodded. “I summoned grandma to teach you a lesson, but you haven’t learned anything.” She walked around Christina to sit in the chair beside Ruby’s bed. “You were never meant to know the future. I thought you’d make the right decision on your own, but I was wrong.”

Christina stood up and walked over to her daughter. “I made the right decision that night. It was everyone else who made the wrong one.” Once again, she knelt in front of Rhea. “They never should have involved her.”

“What they did or will do doesn’t matter anymore.” Rhea turned to Ruby’s lifeless body. “I try everyday to wake her and I can’t because it was _your_ magic that did this to her.”

“I can fix it. I can wake her now,” Christina said.

“Don’t you get it? It’s too late now. You don’t have magic here.”

After a log moment, Christina finally spoke. “My family,” she said. She stood up and faced her mother. “That’s what it’s going to cost me.”

“Knowing everything you know now, are you willing to pay that price?”

Christina looked down at Ruby and then to Rhea. She shook her head. “No.”

“Then we must get you back home,” Clarissa said.

“Mom,” Rhea said. She took Christina’s hand in hers. “Promise me you’ll make the right decision.”

Christina gazed into familiar eyes and spoke truthfully. “ _I_ promise.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Christina and Clarissa were back in the former’s bedroom.

“I have to go, my dear.” Christina turned and watched as her mother began fading away. “My time is coming to an end.”

Christina held onto Clarissa’s hand, not wanting to let go. “Is this really you?”

“I never made a habit of lying to you.” Clarissa held out her arms and pulled her daughter into a hug.

At first, Christina tensed. She wasn’t used to this kind of contact and it was hard to accept it, even coming from her mother. Then she remembered being that little girl sitting alone in her bedroom wanting nothing more than a moment like this

She wrapped her arms around Clarissa, allowing the tears to spill down her cheek as her mother’s warmth faded along with her.

~~~~~~~~~~

Christina walked down the basement steps. “Ruby,” she called out as she reached the platform.

“Christina,” Ruby said turning to her. “I thought you were sleep.”

“I would be offended that you’re not if I didn’t already know what you were doing down here.”

“Why did you remove the mark from Leti?”

“Did you mean what you said earlier? Or did you really think it was the only way to seduce me?”

“I meant every word of what I said, and I also knew it’s what you wanted to hear from me, now answer my question.”

“I was upset.” She stepped closer to Ruby. “I gave them my word that I would find an alternative solution that didn’t involve killing Atticus and they rejected it, but I had every intention of keeping my promise to you.”

She reached for Ruby’s hand, but Ruby backed away from her.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Ruby.”

“How am I supposed to believe that when all you've shown me is that you only care about your immortality?"

“Ruby, I-”

“You what? You’re sorry? You-”

“I saw my mother,” Christina replied. “She showed me my past and the present.”

Ruby felt herself moving closer to Christina, wanting to comfort her but still not fully trusting her. “You only ever talked about your father.”

"I only remember some things about her," Christina said. “I was meant to learn a lesson from what she showed me but-”

“You being you, you learned nothing.”

“That was true at first but then I saw the future. I was dead and you were still in the magically induced coma that I intended to put you in before my mother arrived tonight. Then I saw-”

Ruby laughed with no hint of amusement. “Of _course_ that’s what you intended to do.” She brushed past Christina and made her way to the steps.

“Ruby, please. Please let me finish.”

Ruby shook her head before turning around. “You have two minutes to say what you have to say and then I’m leaving.”

“I saw our daughter, Ruby. You’re _pregnant_.”

“That’s not- That’s not possible. How is that…” _William_ she thought.

“His body,” Christina responded as if she could read her mind. “but both of our DNA.”

Ruby held her stomach, never taking her eyes off her lover. “I’m pregnant?”

“Yes,” she said moving closer to Ruby. “Our daughter summoned my mother to teach me a lesson because all she wanted was her family and I was the one who took that from her." Christina shook her head. "Immortality means nothing if I lose everything that I care about. Everything that I love.”

Tears coated the corner of Ruby’s eyes. “What are you saying to me right now?”

“I was too cowardly to do what I knew to be right, as I had been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong. In other words, I love you, Ruby,” she said as she searched her face, hoping her lover accepted her words as the truth they were. “I don’t expect you to say it back, nor am I only saying it to make you stay. I just need you to know that. And yes, I am sorry for what I was going to do.”

“What about your immortality?”

“In another life, I achieved it. Knowing that is good enough for me. Now, I can focus on more important things like you and our child.”

Ruby took Christina’s hand and guided her to the stairs. “Well, me and your child are tired, and we need some sleep.” They were in a comfortable silence until Ruby spoke again. “For the record, I love you against all discouragement that could be.”

Christina couldn't help the smile that tugged at her lips and for the first time in her life, she felt content.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave comments cause I would love to know y'alls opinions! For requests, prompts and additional commentary, message me on Tumblr at dreaduquesne and twitter at whoreofivy.
> 
> I'm thinking about writing an epilogue that takes place in the future so let me know if that's something y'all would want.


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